Machete, email detailed in Panama killing

Brian Brimager, left, and Yvonne Baldelli moved to Panama in 2011. Brimager was indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement to a federal officer and falsifying records.
— PHOTO COURTESY OF PANAMA-GUIDE/Orange Country Register.

Brian Brimager, left, and Yvonne Baldelli moved to Panama in 2011. Brimager was indicted on charges of obstruction of justice, making a false statement to a federal officer and falsifying records.
/ PHOTO COURTESY OF PANAMA-GUIDE/Orange Country Register.

San Diego  In the weeks following the disappearance of his girlfriend in Panama, a former Marine sold a used machete online, stating in the ad: “Don’t worry, I’ve only killed one person with it,” a prosecutor said Friday.

The example of Brian Brimager’s odd behavior was among many that the federal government detailed Friday as it laid out a case for murder and deception. The 37-year-old Vista resident is accused of killing girlfriend Yvonne Baldelli in 2011, dumping her body and embarking on an elaborate cover-up scheme.

At the end of an intense hourlong detention hearing in San Diego federal court, U.S. Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo ordered Brimager to remain jailed without bail.

The judge, speaking to Brimager, said the evidence indicates “you have a very conniving, deceptive mind and would stop at almost nothing to cover your tracks.”

“I believe at this point in time you are probably a desperate person,” the judge added.

Baldelli’s friends and family, who crowded one side of the courtroom, broke into applause and tears when the judge issued his ruling.

Brimager, who was arrested Thursday, has pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and making a false statement to a federal officer in connection with the disappearance, which Panamanian authorities are investigating as a homicide.

It would be up to officials in Panama to file murder charges against Brimager, and the case remains open there.

In a lengthy presentation to the judge Friday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Conover described a turbulent, violent relationship against the backdrop of a fantasy island lifestyle.

Brimager, wearing a white jail jumpsuit, stood expressionless during the entire hearing as the evidence was laid out against him.

Brimager and Baldelli had dated for about two years in south Orange County before deciding to move to Isla Carenero, a small island near Bocas del Toro, Panama, to start anew in September 2011.

She would design and sew bikinis, and he would play guitar in beach bars.

People on the island soon noticed abusive behavior by Brimager, including one incident that left Baldelli bruised, Conover said.

Brimager was known to buy large amounts of cocaine for people on the island, and later told a friend that he had to leave Panama because his “nose was going to fall off,” the prosecutor said.

He was never planning on staying on the island long, Conover said, and was instead leading a “double life,” sending emails to the mother of his child indicating he would return soon to be with her.

The prosecutor said Baldelli found out about the child, resulting in a fight.

Authorities say Brimager killed Baldelli around Nov. 26, 2011, and disposed of her body in an unknown location. He then dumped a bloodstained mattress in the ocean, got rid of her belongings and sent emails to her family pretending to be her, according to an indictment unsealed this week.

The faked emails said Baldelli was with another man in Costa Rica and “having a great time.”

Besides listing the machete on a local Craigslist-type website, Brimager also allegedly made comments publicly bragging that he was among a small percentage of people capable of killing someone, Conover said.